‘China is key to our ecommerce growth’ says L’Oreal

Posted on February 19, 2015.

French cosmetics company L’Oreal has revealed that more than ten per cent of its 2014 online sales were from its China division.

The brand generated more than $900 million in total online sales over the past 12 months, which accounts for roughly 3.6 per cent of the $25.5 billion sales which were generated across all divisions in 2014 overall. With more than $90 million coming from online sales in China alone, L’Oreal now views ecommerce in the country as a key element to continuing its global growth.

During its Q4 2014 earnings call, L’Oreal’s president of consumer products Marc Menesguen told analysts that the brand was number one in China’s skincare market, whilst Maybelline – also owned by L’Oreal – was number one in the makeup sector, internetretailer.com reports.

The cosmetics division is also thriving in China. Brigitte Liberman, president of L’Oreal’s active cosmetics division, said that ecommerce accounted for roughly 70 per cent of her division’s total sales in China.

“The digital environment is an historic opportunity to emphasise the impact of our business model, which is based on personalised advice, recommendation, and above all advocacy,” she said.

L’Oreal’s gross profit for 2014 was $18.18 billion, up 1.8 per cent from 2013. Net sales for all cosmetics divisions totalled $24.56 billion, while net sales for The Body Shop – which it also owns – were $991.1 million, up 4.5 per cent on the year.

Ecommerce sales in China are predicted to reach a staggering $1 trillion by 2019, techcrunch.com notes.